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Wednesday, 30 October 2013

I do not know why
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif goes over the same exercise on Kashmir every two to
three months. He raised the question at the UN General Assembly and again
mentioned it during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New York.
Now he has brought up the matter before having talks with President Barack
Obama at Washington. Probably, he sought his services. America has reiterated
its stand that it considered Kashmir a bilateral issue which the two countries
should solve. This is what India has been saying. By insisting that Kashmir is
a core issue for any conciliation with India, Pakistan is not bringing the
opportunity for any solution nearer.

What does not go
with the style of Nawaz Sharif is his remark that both countries are nuclear
powers. Is that a threat? How can any country even say that it has a nuclear
weapon or, for that matter, its opponent has? It means extinction of Pakistan
and northern India.

Another ominous
change I have noticed on the part of Islamabad is that it has stopped the
mention of the Shimla agreement. The earlier statements stated that the Kashmir
issue should be sorted out according to the UN resolution and the Shimla
agreement.

At that time, then
Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had orally told then Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi that he would see that the ceasefire line on the border became an
international border. He went back on the undertaking because he could not sell
the proposal to a country which had lost its eastern wing. Still Pakistan must
realise that there is no solution to Kashmir except through talks. Therefore,
the Shimla agreement has the greatest chance of making it to the page.

True, there is the
pressure of rightists on Sharif. But this is not what an average Pakistani
feels. Not long ago when I went to Pakistan and asked a cab driver what he
thought of Kashmir, he replied: “I have to think of how to earn the next meal,
not bother about Kashmir”. An expert in Pakistan once remarked that what they
could not win in the battlefield, they could not expect to win at the
negotiating table.

Sharif’s proposal,
when he was in the wilderness, is worth implementing. He said that the two
countries should set up a committee to talk about Kashmir without interruption.
After having done that, both countries should open up for trade and business.
And the visa should be made easy for people-to-people contact. In fact, the
Pakistan Prime Minister should be pursuing his own proposals seriously.

In the meanwhile,
the allegations by the former Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh that the
Indian Army had been financing ministers in Kashmir to maintain “stability” in
the state have taken a serious turn. The Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir
Assembly has ruled that he would summon the general to explain to the house the
charge of ministers being financed. The Speaker has already issued a notice to
General V.K.Singh.

However, some of
us who have followed the situation in Kashmir since its integration with India
are not surprised. New Delhi always had a finger in the pie. Even a popular
leader like Sheikh Abdullah had to be subservient to New Delhi. Once he did
open his mouth to say that they would rather starve than accept India’s diktat
and he had to spend 12 years in detention.

In fact, there
were no elections in the years soon after the state joined the Indian Union.
Sheikh Abdullah, then called the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, accepted
the fait accompli which was decided at Delhi. The practice was vigorously
pursued when Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad replaced the Sheikh when the latter was
detained. The decision about who should head Kashmir was taken at New Delhi.

There was a
separate Department on Kashmir affairs in the External Affairs Ministry.
Probably, it was meant to convey that since the matter was before the UN, it
had to be dealt with by the External Affairs Ministry, headed by Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru. The Department was transferred to the Home Ministry when the
more sagacious Govind Ballabh Pant took charge after quitting as the Chief
Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The Department is still part of the Home Ministry.
To the credit of Nehru, that he did not accept Maharaja Hari Singh’s request to
join the Indian Union until it had the approval of the then popular leader
Sheikh Abdullah, who was in jail at that time. It is unfortunate that the Sheikh
turned out to be a disappointment. He took New Delhi’s dictated arrangement
like a duck to water.

Since then, chief
ministers at Srinagar — Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of People’s Democratic Party or
Farooq Abdullah—have understood that Srinagar has to tilt its sails according
to the winds blowing from New Delhi. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah makes proper
noises but it is no more than a storm in a tea cup. He is rightly strengthening
the state police so that the use of Indian Army, stationed in the state, is as little
as possible.

But he is defeated
by the Pakistan army which keeps the pot boiling. It was a relief when the two
countries agreed not to violate the LoC. But the line has been violated all the
time in recent times. Pakistan is more to blame because it is giving covert
support to Tehrik-e-Taliban, Pakistan, to infiltrate into India before the
winter sets in and clogs the passes because of snow.

If insurgency in
Kashmir is a part of Islamabad’s policy, what was the purpose of Prime Minister
Sharif’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh? They agreed to honour the
agreement reached in 2004 to make the LoC sacrosanct. The Director-Generals of
Military Operations of the two countries were to meet. True, no time frame was
fixed but they should have met by this time, although their meeting may have
turned into a formality. Political masters have to realise the futility of
cross-border firing. Three wars should have made it clear to Pakistan that it
cannot wrest Kashmir forcibly from the hands of India.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131030/main4.htm

India, Pak to keep
calm along border

Ravi Krishnan
Khajuria/TNS

Octroi BOP
(Indo-Pak Border), October 29

Officers from the
BSF and the Pakistan Rangers met for nearly three hours today and agreed to
ease 10 days of intense shelling by Pakistan that has triggered bloody
skirmishes along the 198-km long International Border.

The sector-level
flag meeting has brought some relief for hundreds of farmers on both sides of
the border as they can now harvest their standing paddy crop right up to the
Zero Line without any fear of fresh skirmishes.

“We held a meeting with the
Pakistan Rangers in a cordial atmosphere wherein we discussed a wide range of
issues. We took unanimous decisions on some of them,” BSF Deputy Inspector
General JC Singla told mediapersons after the meeting.

“The farmers can now harvest
their crop up to the Zero Line. It’s a good thing. We also agreed on removing
‘sarkanda’ (wild grass). We will do it on our side and they will do so on
theirs,” said Singla.

The officer said the BSF would
try to keep peace on the border. On Rangers targeting BSF guards in July and
August, followed by unprovoked firing and shelling of Indian posts and villages
over the past 10 days, the DIG said the BSF lodged a strong protest with them
but they remained in denial.

“They were in denial this time
too, but somewhere inside they knew it had resulted in a flare-up,” the officer
said. On the use of 82 mm mortars by the Rangers on innocent villagers, Singla
said long-range weapons were not used on a big scale and mortars did not have a
fixed range. “They do miss the target.”

Villages lie close to the
border and since mortars don’t have a fixed range, they do miss the target and
fall here and there,” he added.

“We are here on duty and would
not allow anything to happen,” he said.

Pakistan’s Inayat post is
located opposite the Octroi Post of the BSF, where the talks were held.

The Rangers were represented
by Brigadier Mateen, Sector Commander of the Sialkot headquarters. At least 16
officers of the BSF and 15 of the Rangers participated in the meeting.

Besides Singla, two other
Deputy Inspector Generals - Dharmender Pareekh and Virender Singh - were also
present. The 10-day skirmishes have left one BSF jawan - ML Meena - dead and 31
others, including women and children, injured.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131030/main5.htm

Fighter pilot Raha
to be next IAF chief

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, October
29

Ace fighter pilot
Air Marshal Arup Raha has been appointed the next Chief of the Indian Air
Force.

He will succeed
Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, also a fighter pilot, on December 31. At present,
Air Marshal Raha is the Vice-Chief of Air Staff.

Air Marshal Raha
was commissioned into the IAF on December 14, 1974 in the fighter stream of the
flying branch. In his career spanning nearly 39 years, he has commanded the
vital Western Air Command which is tasked with the responsibility of Jammu and
Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and parts of Rajasthan.

During Operation
‘Parakaram’, he was the Commanding Officer of the MiG-29 squadron at Bathinda
in Punjab. He then went on to be the Air Officer Commanding at the IAF base at
Adampur near Jalandhar and Advance Headquarters, Western Air Command at
Chandimandir.

NEW DELHI — India
plans to spend more than US $2 billion in the next five years to boost its UAV
fleet, including mini UAVs, and sharpen its border surveillance, intelligence
and communications capabilities.

More than a dozen
domestic private-sector players are eyeing the mini-UAV market, while the
Defence Research and Development Organisation concentrates on developing
high-altitude, long-endurance; vertical takeoff; medium-altitude,
long-endurance; and combat UAVs.

The Army this
month floated a tender to acquire 49 UAVs to be used for real-time intelligence
and surveillance, to detect human or vehicular movement, target recognition and
identification, and electronic intelligence and communication intelligence.

The mini UAVs will
be used for counterinsurgency operations in the northern state of Jammu and
Kashmir, bordering Pakistan. The UAV will have an endurance of 30 to 90 minutes
carrying a camera, and be able to perform auto tracking of targets.

The mini UAVs will
gather intelligence and carry out reconnaissance along the Line of Control with
Pakistan and the India-China border, an Indian Army official said. Mini UAVs
are effective electronic eyes in the skies against border infiltrations, which
have increased recently, the official added.

The Army is
employing UAVs as a communication constellation and has put them to use in
rescue operations, as observation posts and for medical evacuation, said
Mahindra Singh, a retired Army major general.

The Army and Air
Force have an immediate requirement for more than 700 mini UAVs.

The drones need to
have endurance of 90 minutes with a loiter time of one hour. The vehicle needs
to be able to reach an altitude of 2,000 feet carrying its camera.

The mini UAV
should have a mission range of at least 10 kilometers.

In addition, the
drones would have jam-resistant uplink and secured downlink, and the system
should be easily transportable in one light vehicle and carrier in dismantled
configuration in backpacks.

The Army plans to
have about 1,600 mini UAVs by 2017 for use by the infantry and mechanized
infantry, the Army official said, adding that these vehicles would be employed
to enhance the Army’s situational awareness in the border regions.

The mini UAVs will
be integrated into a system that will include assets such as artillery,
locating radar, bigger UAVs, aerostat radars, and airborne early warning and
control aircraft, which could be used as a force-multiplier, the official said.

“The Indian Army needs to have
a variety of UAVs, especially [combat UAVs] equipped with missiles which could
be effectively used against insurgent hideouts. The Indian Army is spending
most of its time fighting these insurgents in what is called low-intensity
warfare, leaving little time for preparing for a major future battle,” Singh
said.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=121017

Face of Defense:
Female U.S. Army Paratrooper Trains in India

By Army Staff Sgt.
Jeffrey Smith

4th Brigade Combat
Team, 25th Infantry Division

JOINT BASE
ELEMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska, Oct. 29, 2013 – Army 1st Lt. Laura Condyles, a
parachute rigger-qualified officer with the 725th Brigade Support Battalion,
recently returned from graduating second place at the Indian army’s Heavy Drop
Course in Agra, India.

Condyles, a
25-year-old quartermaster officer from Mechanicsville, Va., was chosen from a
distinct group of officers in her unit to attend the course at the Army
Airborne Training School. The 52-day event began in early August in one of the
hottest areas in India with average daily temperatures hovering around 105
degrees Fahrenheit.

“When I first got there, we
found out that the class wasn’t in English. The whole class was in Hindi the
entire time!” Condyles said. “They had an old dictionary they used to translate
the tests for me.”

Fortunately, the Indian army
assigned student-sponsor Capt. Ashish Jha to help Condyles as they both worked
through the course. Condyles had to pass three, three-hour written
examinations.

“Of course, the questions were
originally in Hindi and were translated to English, so I just kind of had to
take my best guess at what they were saying,” Condyles said.

The Indian army’s AATS
installation is similar to Fort Benning, Ga., Condyles said. Most of their
airborne training takes place there, including airborne school, the heavy drop
riggers course, high altitude low opening school, and the pathfinder school.

The Indian forces have two
main aircraft used for heavy drops, the Russian-made AN-32 and the IL-76, which
are comparable in size to the American C-130 and C-17, respectively.

India’s air force packs all of
their personnel parachutes, and their army focuses on heavy drop rigging.

The Russian-engineered rigging
equipment uses three different platforms.“With each platform, there were three different parachutes that we
learned, so I learned how to pack nine different parachutes,” Condyles said.

Condyles excelled in the heavy
drop course and earned the Indian army’s Medal of Excellence for achieving the
coveted “i” indicator meaning she performed at such a high level that she is
qualified to be an instructor.

“I’m the first foreign officer
that’s ever gotten the “i” grade before, so that was pretty neat.” she said
“The cool thing was I’m the first American that went to the course.”

Condyles said she was
fortunate that Capt. Jha was there to translate. In addition, she was able to
learn a great deal about the Indian army and India’s culture during her time
there.

“They drop live animals,” she
said. “They put chickens and goats on a platform and drop them in for food.”

One of the benefits of
partnership training is learning about different military organizations, she
said.

The Indian army’s structure
“is pretty different. Officers, soldiers, and NCOs are very, very separated.
It’s not like our Army where we work together a lot more closely,” Condyles
said. “When you are an officer on post, they cook your meal for you, or they
deliver it to your room. They clean your bathroom for you every day. They mop
your floors in your room every day. They even make your bed for you every day,
and they do your laundry every single day.”

Even with the conveniences,
Condyles’ said her training in India was complicated by the high temperatures,
and power outages.“I had electricity
about 40 to 50 percent of the time.”

Condyles purchased Indian
clothes to wear for her cultural and historical experiences, including two
trips to the Taj Mahal, a visit to the historic Agra Fort, a village wedding
celebration experience, and sadly, a mourning ceremony for an instructor’s
22-year-old son who was struck and killed by a train.

Condyles thought the training
was very worthwhile, and she hopes for more U.S.-Indian military cross-training
events to further improve interoperability between the two countries.

“The Indian army is very
professional and very disciplined,” she said. “I had a great time training and
getting to work with them. I would love to work with them again in the future,
and I think our military would benefit greatly from working with them. We could
learn from each other.”

ISLAMABAD- A joint military exercise between China and
Pakistan is on the cards, whose modalities are being finalised in the ongoing
visit of Pakistan's military chief to the neighbouring state, it is learnt on
Monday.

The reported
development follows top-level meetings between Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff
(COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the Chinese political and military
leadership. This is Kayani's last visit to China in his incumbent capacity as
the COAS, ahead of his upcoming retirement on November 29.

Although the
military sources insist General Kayani's visit was scheduled well in advance,
the event takes place conspicuously at a time when Indian and Russian armies
are conducting a joint military exercise in the Indian desert of Rajhastan near
Pak-India border. 'Gang Neva,' the exercise, is named after Indian river Ganga
and Russian river Neva.

Some sections of
Indian media say India plans to lay 14 strategic railway lines close to borders
with China and Pakistan, as part of its preparations to meet security
challenges emanating from the two borders.

Regarding General
Kayani's visit, the military insiders at General Headquarters (GHQ) confirmed
that drafting a timeline for the fifth 'Pak-China Friendship' exercise or
YOUYI-V was high on the agenda. The exercise is expected to be held in China in
coming months, the officials said. The previous Sino-Pak joint military
exercise YOUYI-IV was held in Pakistan in November 2011 while YOUYI-III was
held in China in the year 2010.

"This
exercise would aim at enhancing the combat operational strength of the two
forces and exchange of professional notes in realtime environment," a
senior army officer said.

The Pakistani
COAS, he said, met with his Chinese counterpart General Fang Fenghui on Monday
and is scheduled to meet Chief of General Staff of Chinese Armed Forces Kao
Kuang-chi, soon.

He would also be
meeting the top management of the China Great Wall Industry Corporation
(CGWIC), the country's premier strategic and scientific body, led by Yin
Liming, in addition to meeting top Chinese military command and political
leadership.

Continuing with
Pakistan's traditional China-friendly policy, General Kayani, Pakistan's
longest serving army chief in civilian rule, had a role in the signing of a
number of Sino-Pak strategic pacts and defence agreements. His latest visit to
China, a few weeks prior to retirement, is widely deciphered against the
backdrop of enhanced strategic cooperation between India and Russia, which
coincides with deteriorating security situation at the Line of Control (LoC)
and Eastern Pak-India borders.

Apart from China,
the conduct of joint military exercises with Turkey, Sri Lanka and Saudi
Arabia, the countries that are included in the military establishment-coined
terminology of 'friendly states,' is also under reported consideration.

Earlier this year,
Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force had carried out joint naval and air
exercises respectively with Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Pakistan Army had last
conducted military exercises with Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2011 and with Sri
Lanka, last year. In August this year, Turkey had hosted a joint military
exercise held between Pakistan and Afghanistan armies.

Meanwhile, a press
release said, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani held separate meetings with General
Fan Changlong, Vice Chairman Central Military Commission and Guo Shengkun,
State Councilor & Minister for Ministry of Public Security.

"The COAS
reiterated goodwill of the government and people of Pakistan and thanked
Chinese leadership for China's eternal support to Pakistan. Security situation
in the region and the possible role both countries can play towards strategic
stability was also discussed during the meetings. Talks also encompassed the
measures to boost mutual cooperation on a wide range of issues," it said.

Defence Minister
Instructs Armed Forces to be on High Alert on Indo-Pak Border

In view of
repeated ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army along the Line of Control
(LoC) between India and Pakistan, Defence Minister of India A K Antony held an
hour-long review meeting with the heads of the armed forces on Monday.

During the
meeting, Antony asked the armed forces to maintain "a high-level of
alert" along the border with Pakistan. The army chief apprised the Defence
Minister of the situation along the border and the measures taken to defuse the
tension.

This is the first
high-level review meeting headed by the Defence Minister after the
anti-militancy operation by the Indian Army last month in Keran sector along
the LoC.

India is said to
have recorded over 200 incidents of ceasefire violations, which are minor
skirmishes. This is said to be the highest number in a year in last 10 years.
While over 180 skirmishes occurred across the LoC, about 50 were recorded along
the 200 kilometres long International Border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Defence Ministry
declines to share information on controversial Technical Support Division set
up by former Army chief VK Singh

The TSD has been
accused of carrying out unauthorised operations and financial wrongdoings. It
has also been accused of illegally carrying out activities for destabilising
the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Information on the activities of the
controversial Technical Support Division (TSD), an intelligence unit set up by
former army chief V K Singh, is still out of bounds for the public.

The Defence Ministry
has declined to share information related to functioning of TSD that had
created a major political storm after General Singh had claimed that army had
regularly paid money to ministers and politicians in Jammu and Kashmir. He had
come under attack from various sections on his statements.

"In so far as
your request for supply of order regarding setting up of 'TSD' and enquiry
etc., are concerned, it is regretted that the same cannot be supplied in terms
of Section 8 (1) (a) of the RTI Act," the Ministry said in reply to an RTI
query.

The Section bars
disclosure of information which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and
integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests
of the state, relation with foreign state or lead to incitement of an offence.

The Defence
Ministry was asked to give a copy of the order and file notings regarding
setting up of TSD. It was also asked to provide detail of complaints of
irregularities received against the snoop unit.

The TSD has been
accused of carrying out unauthorised operations and financial wrongdoings. It
has also been accused of illegally carrying out activities for destabilising
the Jammu and Kashmir government.

General Singh, who
had denied the charges levelled against him and the unit, has also filed an RTI
application seeking information on TSD.

An Army report
about the TSD, which was also accused of illegally tapping phones of senior
Defence Ministry officials, has been submitted to the Defence Ministry and a
probe has been recommended against its functioning.

The report was
prepared by Director General Military Operations Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, as part
of a Board of Officers (BOO) formed by Gen Bikram Singh to review the working
of TSD.

The TSD was
reportedly formed after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks on the basis of an operational
directive given to the Army by the Defence Minister to perform a particular
task to secure the borders and internal situation in the country. It is now
defunct.